Posts tagged ‘visa’

If you’re planning a trip to southeast asia–particularly Thailand–you may want to know about a recent change to the Thai visa regulations.

Basically, anyone who is crossing the Thailand border on LAND (not air travel) is only allowed a 15 day stay in the country. This is a change from the 30 day allowance that was previously in place.

If you’re planning an extended stay for backpacking or simply hanging out on the beach, you want to get a tourist visa which will allow you between 30-90 days, depending on your country of origin. Also, if you plan to enter the country multiple times, you should ask for a multiple entry visa which costs slightly more but will be worth it in the end by saving you time and money.

Thailand is a popular tourist destination because of its rich culture and beautiful landscapes. However there have been recent protests that have caused the airports in the capitol city of Bangkok to close down. There has been incidents of civil unrest throughout the past few years, so before making your way there, please check with the state department for any current travel advisories.

Bureaucracy stinks. Let’s face it. When you are busy (and after all, who isn’t)–standing in a line for two or more hours only to be turned away because you’ve filled out the wrong form is NOT your idea of a productive day.

Take for example the case of the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building in downtown Chicago, which is where you would go if you were a resident of the greater Chicago area and needed an expedited passport for an emergency trip. This fine building also just happened to be the location of the office of the president elect Barack Obama. So, in addition to the regular wait, the additional security makes this place a nightmare. You might as well plan to spend an entire day trying to get your passport approved.

Instead, you can place the task in the hands of a professional passport expediting service. These folks know exactly which forms and fees to have handy, and more importantly, they have a working relationship with the federal employees who are responsible for issuing your passport. Instead of standing in line and being searched by security, you can spend your time in your office actually working–and let someone else have the headache.